In many instances a person addressing a group of other persons will stand behind a table upon which a briefcase or the like containing reference material may be placed in horizontal position. The upper surface of the briefcase may be used as a support for reference material being referred to while speaking to a group of persons in front of the table, but such reference material is horizontally disposed and thus difficult to read.
In order to overcome this disadvantage podium speakers will sometimes turn the briefcase to a position wherein the openable side thereof faces forwardly and thereafter prop the openable side of the briefcase in a partially open position, thus resulting in the upper surface of the briefcase facing rearwardly and upwardly toward the speaker. In such a manner, reference material resting upon the briefcase may be more readily viewed.
However, if it subsequently becomes necessary for the speaker to refer to additional reference material disposed within his briefcase, such material must be removed from the briefcase through the front side thereof or the briefcase must be turned 180.degree. so that the front side of the briefcase faces the speaker. This can cause the arrangement of critical reference material being used during a speech to become disorganized.
Accordingly, a need exists for a means by which the upper openable half of a briefcase may have its upper surface facing upwardly and toward the openable edge of the briefcase. To this end the instant invention incorporates hinge assemblies constructed in a manner whereby the axis of relative swinging movement of the case halves of a horizontally disposed briefcase may be shifted upwardly relative to the lower upper opening half of the briefcase.
Examples of various different support devices including some of the structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 432,119, 873,855, 1,043,489, 1,293,685, 2,269,370, 2,324,684, 2,615,194, 2,885,722, 3,512,620, 3,908,226, 3,923,356 and British Pat. No. 278,104. However, these prior patents do not disclose an adjustable hinge of the type disclosed hereinafter in operative association with a pair of opposing briefcase halves.